Waiter

Operate at the aft CG limit. Will reduce the rotation speed (the Canard is lifting less weight) but may increase the Takeoff speed ever so slightly (The aft wing is now lifting more weight) Waiter

1st - DO NOT drill ANY holes into the Spar Caps. If you accidently drill into the spar caps, the CenterSpar is now trashed, there is no repair for this. For Wiring that needs to go from the Hell Hole into the Engine compartment. Drill the penetration hole(s) just below the centerspar. Do this from the Hell hole side, If you do it from the Engine side, you could accidently drill into the spar caps. For wiring that needs to go from the Hellhole into the CenterSpar (i.e. strobes, navlights) Drill a small hole (1/2 inch) in the bottom forward portion of the Centerspar (just behind the front lip cutout ONLY), DO NOT DRILL through the top or bottom of the centerspar in the area of the engine extrusion hardpoints. If you look carefully at the photo I've enclosed, you can see black/white twisted wires coming up through the holes on the left and right side of the centerspar. If you mount stuff to the center spar (Engine side), again, be very carefull that you don't drill into the spar caps. (i.e. autopilot servo). Your Strobe power supply is OK where its at (mounted inside the centerspar) NOTE - You can see in one of the photos where I mounted components inside the Centerspar ( Hydraulic valve) , where the bolts pass through the shear web and into into the Engine compartment. (This is the area that the Firewall has the lighting cutout, see next paragraph) ALSO, if you mount stuff on the firewall where the mount bolt would go through the centerspar, again Be carefull where you drill. ALSO, Note that if the firewall is per plans, there is a big oval shaped cutout of the firewall (makes it lighter) where it covers the centerspar. Waiter

Looks like I have a pretty good leak in the Pitot system. When I pump it up to about 160 kts, it drops dow to 150 in about 2 seconds. (Standard should be no more than 10 kts in one minute) The leak seems to be in the nose cone. I have a 5/16 stainless Pitot tube that fits over the original aluminum one. I bet money this is where the leak is. I'll look at it some more tonight. ALSO ; Not 100% sure, but my static lines may also have been plugged. Anyway, I redrilled all six of them (standard location under the canard, 3 on each side of the plane). Waiter

Several people have asked if I've taken any Airspeed data yet? Yes / No, kinda. As I resolve issues during the flight testing, I'm becoming more comfortable with the aircrafts handling, and building confidence in its performance. Of major concern, particullarly the EZ, are the CHT and Oil Temperatures. After resolving several issues, I'm happy to report that these are well under control, and the performance is predictable. AIRSPEED Keep in mind that I'm just now starting to take a carefull look at the airspeed / altitude instruments. Particullarly the high speed, high altitude regions. Both, Airspeed and Altitude seem to be reading low. I'm getting conflicting readings between the Dynon and the GPS. I need to take the Manometer over to the airport and re-calibrate pitot and static systems, and look for any leaks. Waiter

As I mentioned, I've seen this first hand back in 1996 during my first Phase 1. (I forgot about this until I made my first flight a couple weeks ago, Deja-Vue) After the 2nd first flight, I looked up inside the cowl. I could see exhaust residue on the lower left and upper right inside and outside surfaces of the cowl. (Darn, Get out the SawZaw.) Keep in mind that the Propellor is an airfoil, just like a wing. As the wing is flying through the air, the air above and below the wing is compressed and moving up and down to get out of the way of the wing. ( I seem to recall 2x the cord is the compression distance used) Now turn this airfoil 90 degrees. The top of the airfoil is now pointing forward. So, (looking forward from the back of the plane) as the propellors airfoil is moving down (on the left side) and up (on the right side) the compressed air is pushed forward (2x cord). If the cowl is close enough, this compressed air will hit the cowl and can actually be pushed up inside the cowl as the airfoil passes by. The only solution is to get the cowl away from the prop. (hope this helps a little) Waiter

The MT (electric version) comes with a built in prop extension (about 4 inches). I have my MT mounted to a 6 inch extension. I custom built my cowl for this configuration. As has been mentioned, you need a minimum of 4 - 5 inches between the prop leading edge and aft edge of any opening in the cowl. My initial thought would be to mount the prop right up against the starter ring with no extension. The question would be, If your building your own custom cowl, can you design the cowl with good aerodynamic lines, maintain the 4-5 inch clearence, and achieve the proper sized cooling air exit. Moving the prop forward solves a couple problems, CG (prop weight) and Propellor ground clearence. However, Moving the prop aft improves propellor performance in two respective areas; a) the Prop / Cowl clearence. This has been quantified and documented, and b) getting the prop into cleaner, less turbulant air. This hasn't been as well quantified, but is a factor) Waiter

OK, Left Gear not fully retracting - Solved I have one of the original gear sets, there is NO room in the wheel wells. i.e. With the Michlen tires, I have about 1/8 clearence all the way around. I have a new Goodyear tire I got from Desser, but I'll wait until I replace the Michlens as long as I don't have any more problems. The left main was hitting on the aft lip and kept it from fully retracting. I machined a slight angle on the Half Fork (an AN 10 thick washer thicknes) This tilts the left wheel forward about 1/4 inch. hence moving it forward about 1/4 inch when retracting. I had done this to the right side a couple years ago. The gear now fully retracts with no problem. Main UP switch not working - Solved I had the wrong logic on "Tilt" switch. This switch is made when the aircraft is NOT tilted (parked on its nose). This switch is one of the ground interlocks that prevents inadvertent main gear retract when the plane is parked on its nose. Gear / Canopy Warning horn not loud - Solved I bought and installed a car horn ($18.00), Works great. The horn is loud, regardless of speed, wind noise, etc. It does get your attention. CHT / Oil Temperature igh - Solved The left gear not fully retracting was blocking the oil cooler intake. Oil temp is now sitting at 190F with 250F during prolonged low speed high HP - touch / goes. I never seen the CHT go above 400F(85 deg OAT) FLIGHT NOTES - When the gear is fully retracted, there is a little kick in the pants and a distinct pitch up Landing - Visual queues seem to have changed (Seems to touch down a little higher) A made a couple really good SLAMS (unintential) , Kind of like a Carrier landing. Nothing broke or bent, Waiter

Heres a photo of the aft part of the cowl, I'm holding a piece of the cut off cowl so you can see the Before/After. Before the cut, there is about 3-1/2 clearence, with the prop in the takeoff mode. (This is about 2-1/2 when the prop is in the cruise) After the cut, the measurement is 5 inches in takeoff, 4 in cruise. This cut made a significant improvement in noise level, and a small improvement in temperatures. ( I forgot to measure the Wheel Well, I'll get it tonight) Waiter

Since the planes flying backwards, that should work great (I have a lipstick bullet camera on order. I'll attach it to the speed brake so I can record the main gear retract, or point it forward and record the nose gear retract.) Waiter

I just talked to the folks a Desser Tire, He said there really isn't a spec on OD of the tire, but generally, they run about 14.2 inches for the 500x5. However, he indicated that the Goodyear Flt Spec II, because of its contour may be slightly smaller in diameter, so I ordered one to test. I'll let you know how it measures up. In the mean time, I have two options; 1) Reshim / machine the half fork to move the wheel forward in the well. (Not a big deal, I have access to the mill to do this and have done similiar work on the half fork to correct for toe-in) 2) Use the Lamb Tire. Of course, all this depends on verifying that the tire is indeed hitting the aft portion of the well. Waiter

I have a set of Lambs at home, I'll take them over to the airport for a photo shot (size comparison) I'd like to stick to the larger original tire, I'll put the plane on jacks tonight and see if I can duplicate the problem. If DOT 5 has a negative expansion cooeficient, or some wierd curve like water, this could do it. i.e. I'm looking at the table for water, the coefficient crosses zero at about 4 Deg C. At 4 Deg C its +0.00000031 At 3 Deg C it goes negative, -0.00001592. Waiter

Lynn; I thought about that (G load). I'll look at the pressure tonight and see where its at. I may also reduce the tire pressure, I think I have them at 65psi. Any idea about tire diameter?? Tire clearence inside the wheel well is tight. If I were doing this again, I would add 1/4 - 1/2 all the way around the circumference of the well. As for your pressure increase! Could be caused by fluid expansion (Not sure what the expansion co-efficient of 5606 is). If the system is tight, when the fluid expands it doesn't have anywhere to go, so the pressure increases. However, You would think that the increase in pressure would bleed through the pump relief valve. (might be that the pump reliefs at 1650, but there is a check valve that keeps the fluid from flowing back into the pump to be relieved, maybe, kinda, sorta!!! Waiter

Drew; The Plane is at KTDZ (Toledo Metcalf) in Northwestern Ohio. Waiter

Lynn; I'm about 99% sure its the airload pushing the strut aft. I don't see any skid marks on the well or lip, so I don't think the tire is spinning. The airspeed at the time of retract is around 70 kts and the pitch angle is 30-35 degress. I have pressure guages on the UP and DOWN lines. ( I didn't look to see what the pressure was, I'll take a look tonight. I seem to recall I had them adjusted to about 650psi for UP and 450psi for DOWN ????) ALSO, I don't use switches to check that the struts are physically compressed. Instead, I use a pressure switch (1100 psi) to check the pressure on the strut compression line. Although there are failure modes where you could have 1100 psi, but the struts are not compressed (Internal strut leak; Fluid has leaked from the bottom side of the strut (hydraulic side) to the interval oleo side of the strut). Regardless, The worst case scenero would be the struts decompressing inside the wheel well. If physical switches are used, adjustment of the switches is critical to ensure that if the struts decompressed inside the well, the switches would be able to sense this. I felt that that sensing pressure would be a better solution for this particular scenerio. I didn't like the complexity of mounting and adjusting physical switches, so I decided to just use a pressure switch. The best solution would be to use both, i.e. a physical switch on each leg to sense the strut is in the compressed position, AND, a pressure switch to sense that strut compression pressure has been reached. The strut switches would verify that the struts are indeed fully compressed and its OK to start the retract. The pressure switch would catch the drop in pressure from struts decompressing inside the well, yet the struts haven't moved far enough to deactivate the physical strut switches. In this configuration, the three switches (two physical and one pressure) would be wired in series, All three switches must be closed to satisify the controller that the struts are retracted) BIG NOTE - The wheel wells must be installed with a slight angle so that if the struts decompress inside the wheel well, the gear will still come out even though the tires are pressing firmly against the inside of the wheel wells. I have tested this scenerio; my gear has no problem coming out with a normal extend cycle, even if the struts are decompressed. They will also pop out under gravity if there is no UP pressure, but I need to give it a couple good jolts. CONTROLLER DIFFERENCES ALSO - One of the major differences in my gear controller and the original controller is, My controller continously monitors the strut compression, even after the gear has been retracted. In the original controller, When the handle was moved to the UP position, the struts were compressed, once that was satisified, the gear would retract. The only time that a "Struts Compressed" check is made is during the initial cycle, once the struts are compressed and the actual retract begins, the struts are never checked again. If the struts started to uncompress, the controller didn't care, it would continue to retract the gear. In my controller, The sequence is the same, except for one major difference; The Strut compression switch (or switches) are continousely monitored, through the entire retract sequence, and when the gear is fully retracted. If at any time the strut switch opens (the strut is leaking down or the strut is uncompressing) the Retract sequence is restarted. i.e. The Strut Valve is energized the UP pump is cycled until the struts are compressed, the strut valve then closes and the UP pumps continues to run until the UP pressure is reached. Waiter

I cut 1-1/2 inches off the cowl. SIGNIFICANT difference in noise (much quiter,) and, about 10-15 degrees cooler (390-400 CHT) There is now about 3-1/2 inches between the cowl and the prop. Oil Temp is cooler, but still higher than it should be (240 - 250 at the Cooler input). I think I found out why! The left gear leg doesn't seem to be retracting completely. The tire is hanging on the edge of the well and its sticking out about 6 inches. I need to get a chase plane to confirm this, but I think I can see the gear leg when I look through the window in the bottom of my strake. I'll put the plane on jacks this weekend and see if I can duplicate this on the ground. (Air flow is pushing the gear leg aft, I may need to reshim the 1/2 fork to gain clearence on the aft edge of the well. With the left gear in this position, its blocking airflow to my oil cooler. The oil cooler air intake is a small armpit intake on the left side, just aft of the gear. This gear hanging out is also impacting speed. Waiter

Hey, did a couple crosswind landings yesterday, 12kts, 90 deg to runway. No problems. Waiter

Or; " I swear, I heard a Chevy on short final..." Waiter

Been trying to get to the airport. EGT / CHT under control. Still a little high. My cowling is close to the prop (2 inches, ???) I seem to recall from my original Phase I, that the bow wave from the prop was pushing air back into the cowl. I cut 2 inches off the back of the cowl and made a significant improvement in cooling. I'll try this tonight and see what happens (maybe 1 inch at a time) ALSO. I place the wing shims in the wrong place. I need to reshim the left wing. The plane requires a lot of left trim (wants to turn right). I need to remove one shim from the left top outboard, and place it at the left bottom outboard. This will lower the angle of attack of the left wing and should reduce the left trim. ALSO - left gear still doesn't indicate UP when I know its UP. ALSO - UP switch doesn't work, I have to use the UP BYPASS. I probably have a safety switch thats not making. ALSO - I can barly hear trhe gear warning horn (loud buzzer). I purchased a car horn and will be replacing the buzzer with the horn. Waiter

New Empty weight is 1170 lbs (from 950lbs in 1995) New Fuel Quantity is 39 gal (was 44) Had a small piece of debris in the #1 injector. Also had a cracked intake gasket. This solved the High CHT on #1 Calibrated the fuel Quantity guages. Fixed the Gear Alrm horn (Throttle position switch adjustment.) Fixed the left gear UP indicator (switch adjustment) Still have a high Oil Temp (260 - 290 at the input to the oil cooler). I found a missings bolt in the oil cooler, may have been allowing air to bypass the cooler. Also, I'm going to clean up the intake ramp , Hopefully this should take care of the Oil Temp. Waiter

Independence Day was a good Day. N961EZ won her independence from the Hangar and took to the air again. Total Time for Today 1.0 hr, and three full stop landings. I didn't retract the gear the first time, just around the pattern, controllability check, and landed. A quick walk around to see if any parts fell off, then out again. Second time I did a full retract, WOW, When the gear hits the wells, its like somebody hit the Rocket Switch :-) SURPRISES - The only surprise I had, I can't hear the Hydraulic pump running (Sure is loud on the ground, but can't hear it running when airborne. I've got a couple issues to deal with, some may be related: 1)Rough engine, high Oil temp, and High CHT on #1. I'll bet money that the injector on #1 is plugged, or the intake tube gasket is cracked. #1 is very lean ant the other 3 cylinders are sooty (looking at the exhaust) 2) Left UP indicator shows "In Transit" even though the gear is UP. Most likely a switch adjustment. NOTE - I can't see the mains to see if they are UP or DOWN, BUT, I can see the upper door that rides out under the wing. I'll paint a couple stripes on the wing leading edge, that line up with the door. One when the gear is down, and the other when the gear is up. This is a good visual indication of the gears position, based oon the position of the upper door. 3) Gear warning horn did not sound when I retarded the throttle to Idle. I need to check into this. 4) Fuel Qualtity, Need to look at the sensors and see whats going on. I can see the fuel in the windows, but the guage isn't working. Speaking of Fuel: My original EZ would hold 43 - 44 gallons total. The New configuration holds 34 in the strakes, and five in the sump. So, I lost ten gallons in the strakes, but got back 5 by installing a thigh support sump tank. I'll keep you posted when I start speed test. Waiter

Depending on Work (we're in the middle of harvest) I may be able to make a day trip. That is, if I don't run into any difficulties in my Phase I (FAA gave me 5 hours and 20 landings) Waiter

Excellent, Now be prepared to have fun :-) Waiter

TMann, I was also taken a little surprised at my numbers. but they don't lie. Glasswork, i.e Just the reinforcement pads inside the Centerspar weigh 3-4 lbs each. Then throw in the wheel well inserts and extra flox/glass to make them leakproof. the neat little shelf in the nose that the pump sits on, gear doors, etc. Plus the plumbing, I figure I have five hose assemblies in each wheel well, (10 total) plus three more at the pump. These are all quality hoses with steel fittings. I estinate each hose weighs about 3/4lb, plus all the interconnect tubing, plus the strut valve. Then throw in the sensors, controller, switches, wiring, etc. All those little inconsiquential things that don't weigh anything start to add up. :-( I wouldn't have believed the tradeoff would be close to 100 lbs until I seen the numbers! Would I do it again, Yup. If you want to play, you gotta pay Waiter

Heres a PDF version of the spreadsheet: Waiter N961EZ_Weight.pdf

INITIAL TAXI TESTING; The ride is noticiably rougher than the original gear. But also noticiably more stable; The nose doesn't bob, and the plane doesn't rock. Brakes - WOW. I can lock up the brakes and skid the tires. (couldn't do this with the original Clevelands). Brakes are firm and very responsive (I attribute this to the two puck Matcos and the use of 1/4 inch solid line, (no more Nylaflow). I haven't tried full throttle with full brakes yet. With the Original Clevelands, the plane would creep forward as the brakes couldn't hold it. I'm guessing that the plane will now skid forward. (constant speed prop) WEIGHT GAIN ANALYSIS; Adding systems to the plane adds weight, and has negative effects on some aspects of the aircrafts performance. Hopefully, the added system (and weight) also improves some aspect of the aircrafts performance to offset the negative impact. In October of 1996, My EZ weighed in at 950 lbs, Upon completion of my rebuild, I again weighed my EZ, this time it came in at 1180 lbs, What contributed to this 230 lb increase in weight? I've included an analysis of the weights and systems added since the aircraft was weighed in 1996. These weights are reasonably accurate estimates and should provide an overall picture of what systems contributed to the weight gain. I primarly use my EZ for long distance, high altitude travel. The three items that I fell were overwhelmingly worth the weight are the Constant speed prop (37 lbs), the Oil Heat system (23 lbs), and the NavAid autopilot (15 lbs) The largest single culpret in the weight gain is the Retractable gear (98 lbs). Although the subject of performance differences between retractable vs fixed has been beat to death, In this particular application, I prefer the retractable gear. As I start flight testing, I'll post more regarding preformance. Waiter N961EZ_Weight.xls